Pepper
Pepper, commonly called “King of spices”, has dominated the international spice market for ages. Despite the fact that most pepper originated from South of India, a variety of wild pepper is native to Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon). Pepper comes from an evergreen climbing tree called Piper nigrum. The woody shrub belongs to the family piperaceae.
Supported by a network of aerial roots, the Pepper shrub grows to a height of about 10m. However, a height of 4m is maintained by pruning. Flowers produced are densely spiked. Peppercorns are also produced from fruits that resemble berries. These contain single seeds.
Ceylon pepper is important in the world spice market due to its high piperine content, strong aroma and rich flavour. Pepper has two varieties named ‘white pepper’ and ‘black pepper’.
Black Pepper
Black pepper is produced by sun drying ripe peppercorns.
White Pepper
This type of pepper is produced by the removal of the outer covering membrane. This can be done before or after the process of drying in order to obtain the inner seed.
Growing Areas
The cultivation of pepper in Sri Lanka covers an area of about 32,000 hectares. Wet zones in the mid and low country form the majority growing areas.
